|
The work Portrait of a Man by Rembrandt, sold a few weeks ago in the London auction at Christie’s for the record price of 20.2 million pounds, was bought by Steve Wynn, one of the richest US-born men in the world and king of Las Vegas casinos.
The discovery was made by the “New York Times”, which then revealed the name of the anonymous telephone bidder who bought the Dutch artist’s masterpiece. The intermediaries who took care of the purchase at Christie’s in London confirmed the news to the American newspaper. Reached by a reporter of the “New York Times”, Wynn only said: “I’m not discussing the episode. I’m not saying anything to anybody about my paintings”.
This painting by Rembrandt with its 20.2 million pounds has set a new record for the artist. The previous world record had been set, also at Christie’s in London, in December 2000, when Portrait of a sixty-two-year-old woman was sold for 19.8 million pounds.
“Portrait of a Man”, which had been unseen by the public for almost 40 years, was last sold in 1930 in London for 18,500 pounds. In the Fifties the masterpiece was donated to the Columbia University in New York, and then sold again, ending up in a prestigious private collection in 1974, the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson.
Steve Wynn, owner of a remarkable collection (including works by Cezanne, Rubens, Picasso, Sargent, Vermeer and Turner), managed to snatch the Rembrandt from two passionate American art dealers, Otto Naumann, famous New York gallery owner and Alfred Bader, an investor from Milwaukee, paying almost three times as much as the lowest estimate.
|
Loading ...